The Champ:Bad Boys Book 5(6)

"No." That's all she said but it was enough to loosen the knots in my   gut and relax the fists I'd formed in readiness. What an ass. We   exchanged small getting to know you talk after that and before long she   seemed to be getting used to my touch; at least she'd stopped trying to   escape me and her body was no longer so stiff. That could be because I   never stopped touching her in some way.

If I wasn't running my hand through her hair it was a finger trailing   down her arm or around her ear, and still my other hand stayed close to   that ass that had so tempted me from the start. There was laughter and   cheap shots flying around the table as my boys and her girls settled   down for a nice pre-holiday night out. I wonder if they noticed that   neither of us participated? Too caught up in our own little drama.

The gorilla and his friends were long gone but I knew my boys, like me,   were still on the alert just in case. Still it had been a while and it   didn't look like they were coming back for more. That's why I was   surprised when this guy came in and just walked right up to us and   grabbed her arm. What the fuck?

"Let's go." He tried pulling her off my lap but I was holding her around   her middle, it was just reflex. She'd told me there was no man in her   life, but in that split second I didn't care, no one else was going to   have her, not after I'd seen her, not after she'd made me feel.

Still, I glared at her for deceiving me, why else would this asshole be   pulling on her arm like he owned her? For the first time in my life my   ethics took a nosedive. I was never one for poaching, never even  flirted  with another man's woman, but I knew I wouldn't let her go.

I was pissed the fuck off though and the terrified look on her face   wasn't helping her case any. "Are you married to this fuck?" What the   fuck was she doing sitting here with me if she was already taken? Before   she could answer one of her girls did it for her.

"No she's not, get out of here you piece a shit before I call the cops.   She doesn't want anything to do with you why can't you get that through   your thick skull?" It was only after that outburst that I was able to   relax. That's good, that's real good, she's not his, I'm not about to   become a home wrecker. I'll have to think really hard about the fact   that I was willing to walk down that road later, but right now there was   a more pressing matter at hand.

I kept my eyes on hers and the stark fear I saw there made my gut turn   over. There're only a few reasons for a woman to react that way to a man   and I didn't like any of them. "Give me the condensed version, make it   quick."         

     



 

"This has nothing to do with you mister." I ignored his ass until he   tried pulling on her again. By now, my boys were on their feet waiting   for my next move, before they made theirs. I wasn't worried about the   asshole, only how much damage I was gonna have to do to him according to   what she told me in the next five minutes.

"Talk."

"We went out once a while ago, I didn't … " I didn't let her finish she   didn't need to. I just stood up, passed her off to my brother who was   closest to me as usual and punched the fuck in the face sending him to   the ground. "Get her outta here." This idiot wasn't as big as the one   I'd just taken down but he had mean written all over him.

"Get up you fuck." I kept seeing the fear in her eyes, hearing the   tremble in her voice as she told me about their one date. I knew this   story all too well and could see why the fuck would lose his shit over   her. Too bad for him she was off the market.

Like all cowards, when he got to his feet he didn't come at me. Instead   he wiped the blood from his lip, looked around as if searching for her   and threw me a withering look before heading for the exit.

Jace had hung back as I knew he would, that was part of the bro creed;   we never left anyone alone in a situation like this. "Where is she?" I   kept my eyes on asshole number two as he left and all the while my only   thought was for her. What the fuck had he done to cause that fear in  her  and what was it gonna take to erase it?

"Chad and Cole took her to the truck. You cool?"

"Yeah let's go." I dropped enough bills on the table to more than cover   our drinks and a tip before we left. It wasn't lost on me that I'd just   met this girl and already had to lay two motherfuckers on the ground   over her. Not sure if that was a good thing or not, but I knew it was   through no fault of hers.

I'm gonna have to do some serious thinking before the night was over.   Things were moving fast but not in the way I'm accustomed to. I knew   five minutes after putting her on my lap that she was going to be more,   mean more than anyone ever had before. The longer she sat there the  more  I knew she was going to be there for a long fucking time. Now it  looked  like I was going to have to decide real quick how long that was  going  to be.

I think in my gut I already knew, it was a feeling that couldn't be put   into words, just something I felt down to my soul. But it had come from   so far out of left field, blindsided me actually, that it was almost   hard to grasp, to accept. Shit like this just didn't happen in real   life, not for me anyway.

How could you not know in some way that you were about to meet your   destiny? I had no clue when I got off that plane earlier this evening   that at the end of the day I was going to meet the woman who was going   to tie me in knots. Even thinking about her makes me feel like I'd won   and winning never felt this fucking good. Fuck I am so screwed.

Outside in the parking lot there was no sign of the asshole and my   brother and friend had the situation under control. The girls were all   piled into the truck with Chad and Cole, with Traci sat in the middle of   the guys up front so they could protect mine. Looks like they already   knew too.

I opened the door and looked in past Cole. "You okay?" She nodded her   head yes but I could see that she was still shaken up. I should've   kicked his ass. Once I was sure that she was just scared and not hurt I   turned my mind to other things.

"How did you ladies get here?" I looked in the back where her girls were huddled.

"We drove, our car's over there." Her mouthy friend, Christine I think   was her name, pointed out a dark colored SUV across the lot. "Come on   we'll take you home. Cole you drive them, where we headed ladies?"

"What do you mean?" Traci found her voice as she climbed out of the truck behind Cole. "I mean we're following you home."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because whatever that was in there is not going away anytime soon and I won't be the man I am if I let you leave here alone."

"I'm not alone." She pointed to her friends who were in the backseat   taking in every word. "Ladies, go with Cole we'll follow you home. You   live alone?" I turned my attention back to her.

"Why would I tell you that? For all I know you could be just as … " I cut   her ass off right there. "Don't even think about comparing me to that   fuck, get back in the truck." Her girls climbed out the back and she   excused herself so that they could have a little huddle in which I guess   they were trying to convince her that I was safe.

She was right in a sense, she didn't know me and I could be as big an   asshole as the one who'd just left, but that's something she's gonna   have to figure out on her own and soon. I pulled my wallet and gave   Christine my ID. Next, I asked for her number and called her phone so   she'd have my number as added security for her friend. "That's gonna   have to be enough for now, get in the truck."         

     



 

She looked at me like I was nuts as I helped her back in the truck where   Jace and Chad were waiting with one of her girls who decided to stay   with her. That was good, it showed that these women had their heads on   straight, and from the way they'd reacted to the asshole, the way they'd   rallied around her, I knew she was in good hands.

She gave me shit about the address but Cole had already pulled out so I   guess Christine was on the ball again. I understood her position, there   was no way she could know I'd already lost my fucking mind and was   already thinking of her as mine. I'm about to rectify that shit right   quick though. I hope she can keep up, if not, oh well.

I settled in next to her and took stock of the situation. I wasn't going   to get the pussy tonight the whole program had changed. This one was   gonna take a hell of a lot more work. Funny thing is, I no longer cared,   she made me want more. A few kisses and that ass of hers coupled with   her shy sweetness and I was hooked. She probably did that shit on   purpose.